This needs to go viral. You can help.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I Want My Dog to Live Longer

YouTube

[blues]

Ain't it the truth.

I shed more than a few tears when I had to hold my late Weimaraner, "Smoky", in my arms as he departed this mortal coil.

Five years since and I've never really gotten over it.

[Kitsuma]

I can't help but think the original words were "I want my dog to live longer than you"? But, he sanitized it for his wife after sobering up.

[Jennifer Williams]

That’s fantastic! Love it!

Our little guys are 12 (Westie) and 10 (Miniature Schnauzer). The 12 year old Westie, Mike, fell all the way down the staircase the other day. Talk about heartbreaking! Now we carry him every time we go up and down the stairs. He can’t be left out. Poor, little guy is getting older!

[JFord]

"And I don't care where his nose has been
I'll let him lick my face again and again"

No truer love was e'er expressed.

[John Watson]

No doubt.
I wish I could figure out how to load his squat and run LP, but for now long slow walks will have to suffice to stave off sarcopenia for my 13 year old yellow Labrador.
That and my #32 meat grinder seem to be helping.
Who wouldn't want to stick around longer for a diet of delicious meats and organs?

[wal]

Great.

Old Blue

YouTube

[Cheesepuff]

I Want My Dog to Live Longer

YouTube

Quoted for epic truth and justice.

[This Old Man]

Coach,

Thank you for this. Last fall I lost my dog. He wasn't just any dog. He was my Bird Dog, and those who have them will understand. I was just as tore up as all the other old men I saw before me when they lost their Bird Dogs.

In his prime he had a nine and a half foot vertical jump. Once, in the field, I was standing at the top of a ten-foot-high cut-out bank on the edge of a creek, and he was at the bottom. I gave him the "up" command, and he jumped. He got his front feet over but not his back feet, and then started to slide back. I grabbed him by the collar and hauled him the rest of the way up. Not only was he an amazing athlete, he also trusted me completely. In spite of my best efforts he got feeble in his old age, and for the last two years of his life I had to help him get up on the bed.

I do sorely wish our dogs could live longer.

TOM

[johnst_nhb]

I Want My Dog to Live Longer

YouTube

I get misty-eyed when I hear The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s “Mr. Bogangles” because of the part about him traveling around with his dog then the line:

“The dog up’n died, he up’n died. And after 20 years he still grieves...”

Coach,

Thank you for this. Last fall I lost my dog. He wasn't just any dog. He was my Bird Dog, and those who have them will understand. I was just as tore up as all the other old men I saw before me when they lost their Bird Dogs.

In his prime he had a nine and a half foot vertical jump. Once, in the field, I was standing at the top of a ten-foot-high cut-out bank on the edge of a creek, and he was at the bottom. I gave him the "up" command, and he jumped. He got his front feet over but not his back feet, and then started to slide back. I grabbed him by the collar and hauled him the rest of the way up. Not only was he an amazing athlete, he also trusted me completely. In spite of my best efforts he got feeble in his old age, and for the last two years of his life I had to help him get up on the bed.

I do sorely wish our dogs could live longer.

TOM

Jim Steel has an amazing post about his old buddy Bas on his blog (2017). The bond is real.